I'm Guessing That's Significant
by fanwriter1245
Summary: When Sierra McClure visits her childhood friend, Abigail Chase, she never expected to be thrown into the middle of a plot to steal the Declaration of Independence and find a treasure that no one believed existed. All the while, she finds herself attracted to a Mr. Riley Poole as they hunt for the treasure together, and avoid the FBI and a man called Ian.
1. Reunion

**I have a confession to make. I did something that I promised myself I would never do...**

**I started working on two fanfictions at the same time! Phew, got that off my chest! Anyway, I've been working on a Batman Begins/Dark Knight fanfiction, but I hit a nasty writer's block, and ideas were popping into my head for this one. So I took a break from that one and started this story. Rest assured, the Batman one will get finished seeing as I've gotten over my writer's block and ideas are flying into my head left and right!**

**A fair warning, this does start off pretty boring, but I promise you I've added lots of fluff between Riley and my OC and the action really starts to pick up after a couple chapters. I only ask that you read more than the first chapter!**

**Okay! Enough with the boring author's note! On to the story!**

* * *

><p>Abigail Chase's day started off like any other. She arrived at the National Archives, said hello to her assistant, and went to her office to begin her work.<p>

But that was also the day everything that she ever knew was going to change.

"Miss Chase?" her assistant said as she poked her head through the door. "There's someone here to see you."

"Send them in," she replied.

She began working on an article that was to be published soon when she heard the door open. "How can I help you?" she asked without looking up.

"Hi, Abby."

Abigail's head whipped up at the sound of the familiar voice and familiar nickname. "Sierra?"

The brown-haired girl smiled at her blonde friend. Abigail got up from her chair and rushed over to her to pull her into a tight hug.

"It's good to see you again," Sierra said.

"Where have you been? What have you been doing?"

"I'm a nurse at a hospital in Portland."

"What are you doing all the way out here?"

"I took off for a couple weeks. My shifts have been crazy and everyone knew I needed a break. My boss actually recommended I take off for a while and I happily agreed. So I decided to use the time to see you."

Abigail hugged her again. "It's been far too long."

"I know. I'm sorry. I should've kept in touch."

"No, I don't blame you. I should've kept in touch too. But after we both graduated from college and found different jobs, it just kept getting harder and harder."

"It didn't help when I had to move almost all the way across the country. But Dad had his job to worry about, and I had no choice."

Abigail's assistant popped her head in again. "Sorry to interrupt, Miss Chase, but there's a couple of gentlemen here who need to see you. They say it's urgent."

"Alright, just give me a few minutes." She nodded and closed the door just as the phone rang. Abigail went over and sat down at her desk and answered it. She conversed with the other person while Sierra waited for her to finish.

"Hey," she said to Sierra as she put the phone on her chest. "Do you want to sit in on this next meeting? Maybe see how the job works?"

Sierra smiled. "I would love to."

Abigail smiled back and finished her conversation just as the two men walked in. She met eyes with the younger one, who was admittedly really cute. She awkwardly smiled before looking away. Abigail finished her phone call and stood up.

"Good afternoon, gentlemen," she said as she went over to them to shake their hands. "Abigail Chase."

"Paul Brown," the older one said.

"Nice to meet you."

"Bill," the younger, cute one said.

"Nice to meet you, Bill. This is my very good friend, Sierra McClure."

Sierra went over to the three of them and shook hands with the two gentlemen. She could notice Bill subtly trying to check her out. She smiled at him, hoping it would get him to stop.

"How may I help you?" Abigail asked politely.

"Your accent!" Paul exclaimed. "Pennsylvania Dutch?"

"Saxony German," she smiled.

"Oh!"

"You're not American?" Bill asked.

"Oh, I am an American, I just wasn't born here. Please don't touch that!"

Paul was caught off-guard and jumped a bit. "Sorry," he said. "A neat collection! George Washington's campaign buttons! You're missing the 1789 inaugural, though. I found one once."

"That's very fortunate for you."

Sierra was smart enough to know that he was very discreetly flirting with her. She took a seat in the chair next to Abigail's desk while the two gentlemen seated themselves in front.

"Now you told my assistant that this was an urgent matter?"

"Ah, yes, ma'am! Well, I'm gonna get straight to the point."

Abigail gave him her full attention as did Sierra.

"Someone's going to steal the Declaration of Independence."

The silence in the room was utterly deafening. One could've heard a feather fall to the floor. If this is what the job was usually like, Sierra was ready to sign up right here and now.

"It's true," Bill added, breaking the uncomfortable silence.

"I think I'd better put you gentlemen in touch with the FBI," Abigail said as she picked up the phone.

"We've been to the FBI," Paul said.

"And?"

"They assured us that the Declaration cannot possibly be stolen," Bill told them.

"They're right."

"My friend and I are less certain," Paul said. "However, if we were given the privilege of examining the document, we would be able to tell you for certain if it were actually in any danger."

"What do you think you're gonna find?"Abigail asked as she leaned back in her chair.

Paul spoke in broken speech, like he was trying to pick his words really carefully. "We believe that there's an…encryption on the back."

"An encryption, like a code?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"Of what?"

"Uh…a cartograph."

"A map?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"A map of what?"

Sierra had never been so fascinated by a conversation about history. In fact, she had always hated her history classes. She found them boring and more than once she had dozed off during the lecture. But now, this was something totally different. And she became even more interested by what Paul said next.

"The location of…" He cleared his throat nervously, choosing his next words with caution. "…of items of historic and intrinsic value."

"A treasure map?"

"That's where we lost the FBI," Bill said.

"You're treasure hunters, aren't you?"

"We're more like treasure protectors," Paul said, which made Sierra smile.

"Mr. Brown, I have personally seen the back of the Declaration of Independence, and I promise you the only thing there is a notation that reads, 'Original Declaration of Independence dated…'"

"4 of July, 1776," Paul finished. "Yes, ma'am."

"But no map."

There was a period of another uncomfortable silence. Sierra noticed Bill close his eyes and shake his head, signaling for Paul to not say what it was obvious he was going to say.

"It's invisible," Paul finally said.

"Oh…right," Abigail nodded, her tone suggesting she did not believe him in the slightest.

"That's where we lost the Department of Homeland Security," Bill said.

"Hang on, Abby," Sierra said as she held her hand out, her interest piqued. She looked at the two gentlemen. "What makes you so sure there's a map on the back? Especially if there's proof that there's nothing there?"

"We found an engraving on the stem of a 200-year-old pipe," Paul answered.

"Owned by Freemasons," Bill added.

"May I see the pipe?" Abigail asked.

"We don't…have it."

"Did Bigfoot take it?"

"Abby…" Sierra muttered.

"It was nice meeting you," Paul said as he stood up.

"It was nice to meet you too."

"And you know that is a really nice collection. Must've taken you a long time to hunt down all that history."

Abigail smiled at him as they left her office.

Sierra watched as Bill turned back around and gave her a nerdy, awkward smile before Paul pulled him away.

"Whoa," Sierra breathed. "Does stuff like this usually happen?"

"No. You picked a day when the most interesting, yet absurd thing happened in my office. Normally, I just get little teens who think they can get a job here."

"Paul was totally flirting with you."

"No, he was not."

"Yes, he was. You've had that collection since we were kids. Everyone said you were crazy for trying to find things like that. He was the first to ever actually admire it."

"What about Bill? I could see the way he was looking at you."

"Unfortunately, I could too. I'll admit he was cute, but the whole staring at me thing was freaking me out."

Abigail laughed. "Look, I've got some business to take care of, but you can stop by tomorrow for a while and we can go grab lunch. Oh, and there's a Gala going on this weekend. If you don't have anything going on, I'm allowed to have a plus one!"

"I'd love to go!"

"Alright, well, I will see you tomorrow then!"

* * *

><p>"Abby?" Sierra said as she poked her head through the door.<p>

"Come in," she called as she saw her friend. Sierra saw that her personal assistant was sitting across from her. "Apparently, I just got something. I hope it's not from Stan."

"Stan?"

"He's this guy I work with who has been hitting on me for weeks." She opened the card and read it aloud. "'For the woman who has everything else. Thanks for listening. Paul Brown.'"

Her assistant gave her an awkward look, while Sierra just smiled. She had been right.

Abigail opened up the box to find the last button she needed for her collection. "No way," she whispered.

Sierra laughed. "Told you he was flirting with you."

Her phone rang after she had added the button to her collection. "Abigail Chase," she said into the receiver. "Okay, I'll be right there." She turned to Sierra. "There's been a problem with one of the displays. I just have to go sort it out for a minute, then I'll be right back and we can go get something to eat."

"That's fine. Take your time," Sierra answered.

After some time, Abigail finally returned to her office.

"What happened?" Sierra asked.

"The heat sensors went off on the Declaration of Independence display. They're running tests, then changing the case."

"The Declaration seems to be full of surprises lately." There was a pause before she added, "Do you really think someone's going to steal it?"

"I don't think it's possible. That document is more protected than anything else. I think those two men were just being paranoid."

"If you say so. You're the expert." She still wasn't fully convinced that those men were lying.

* * *

><p><strong>It was really weird having to refer to them as Paul and Bill. We all know that is not their real names :)<br>**


	2. Car Chase

When the Gala came around, Abigail swung by the hotel Sierra was staying at to pick her up. Abigail was wearing a dark purple dress with thin straps and a sash of the same color around her waist. Her hair was done up in a tight updo.

Sierra decided to don a strapless navy blue dress with some Taylor Swift curls.

"You look nice," Abigail said.

"Thanks. You do too."

They went to the Gala, and Sierra had to admit that this wasn't really her style. She much preferred walking around in sweatpants and a loose t-shirt. After all, she had spent much of her time in scrubs over the last few years.

The two of them talked with various guests before Paul Brown actually showed up.

"Hey, look who it is," Sierra said with a coy smile.

"Oh, great," Abigail responded.

"For you," he said as he handed her a champagne glass.

"Mr. Brown," she said, taking the glass from him.

"Dr. Chase. Ms. McClure."

"What are you doing here?"

"I made a last minute donation. A pretty big one."

"Well, on that subject, thank you for your wonderful gift."

"Oh you did get it?"

"I really couldn't accept something like that normally, but…I really wanted it."

"Well, you needed it."

Sierra raised her eyebrows at that last comment. Definitely flirting with her.

"I have been wondering though, what the engraving indicated on the pipe that Bigfoot took."

"Abby," Sierra said. She hated it when her friend talked so sarcastically like that.

"Hi," a male voice interrupted. "Here you go." The man, Dr. Herbert, had also been flirting with Abigail all night and probably a lot before then. He attempted to hand her a champagne glass, but awkwardly stopped when he saw she was already holding one.

"Uh, thanks!" Sierra said as she took it from him to prevent any more awkwardness. "I needed one of these."

"Dr. Herbert, this is Mr. Brown," Abigail introduced.

"Hi."

"Hi, there!" Paul said. "A toast, yeah?" He raised his glass. "To high treason."

The three of them looked at him as if he had grown a third eye. None of them had expected that to come out of his mouth.

"That's what these men were committing when they signed the Declaration. Had we lost the war, they would have been hanged, beheaded, drawn and quartered, and—oh! Oh, my personal favorite—had their entrails cut out and burned!"

Sierra looked at Abigail who discreetly shrugged her shoulders.

"So," Paul continued. "Here's to the men who did what was considered wrong in order to do what they knew was right. What they knew was right."

They took small sips of their champagne while Paul downed the whole thing with one gulp.

"Can I take that for you?" he asked Abigail. She raised an eyebrow and slowly handed him her champagne glass, wondering why he was taking it from her when she obviously wasn't done. "Well…good night!" he said before walking away.

"Good night," Abigail said.

"That was really, really weird," Sierra commented.

"Something's not right…"

"What do you mean?"

"I don't know. Something just seems off with him."

"Well, first he came in saying that someone was going to steal the Declaration of Independence, then he toasted to high treason, then gulped down the entire glass of champagne. He seems a little off in the head if anything."

"No, there's something else."

"What are you talking about?"

Abigail went over to the entrance. "Hey, Rebecca. Do you have a Paul Brown on that list?"

"Paul Brown?" the blonde woman asked, not recognizing the name. Flipping through her papers, she answered, "Uh, no. Not here."

"Told you," she said to Sierra.

"I think you're over-thinking this," Sierra told her.

"He's not on the list, which means he shouldn't be in here. Something's up."

"Can we please just enjoy the night? You were always doing this. Thinking that everyone was up to something."

"And most of the time, I was usually right, wasn't I?"

Sierra didn't respond.

They walked through the room, talking to various people Abigail worked with, but it was obvious that her suspicions were eating her up.

"Isn't it strange that we haven't even seen him except for that one time?" she asked Sierra.

"Sure, maybe. I don't know, but you're worrying too much about this."

After passing the gift shop, and coming up empty, Abigail turned to go back when she caught sight of the man she had been looking for.

"Wait a minute," she said quietly. "Where's he going?"

She took off after him, determined to find out what was going on.

"Abby," Sierra called. "Abby, wait! You're blowing this all out of proportion!"

Abigail was fast and Sierra was having a hard time keeping up with her. After running down the stairs and outside across the street, she finally caught up with her.

"What is that?" she heard Abigail ask.

"A souvenir."

"Really?"

"Man, you're fast for a girl in heels," Sierra panted as she joined them.

"Did you both enjoy the party?"

"Yeah," Abigail answered suspiciously.

They whipped around as the alarm went off inside the building.

"Oh, my…" Paul said as he put his hand to his head.

"Oh, my—You did not!" Abigail screamed. "Security, over here!" She grabbed the Declaration from him. "Give me that!"

"It's yours! Take it!" Paul said frantically.

Sierra watched Paul get into the huge red van, then turned to find Abigail almost get hit with a truck.

"Abby?" Sierra shouted across the street. Men scrambled out of the truck and tried to take the document from her. When she didn't relent, they picked her up and forced her into the truck.

"Abby!" Sierra screamed.

She ducked as gunshots rang out, breaking several windows on the van behind her. When they stopped, she felt a hand roughly take her wrist and whipped around to find Paul holding her. "Come on," he said quickly.

"I'm not going anywhere with you," she cried as she tried to yank out of his grasp.

"Do you want to help your friend?"

"Yes."

"Then get in the van."

He roughly pulled her along and threw her into the back of the van. As they sped off after the truck.

"This could be considered kidnapping," she said under her breath.

"Once we catch them, what are we gonna do?" the cute friend screamed as he tried to catch up to the truck. What the heck was he doing here?

"I'm working on it!"

Sierra flew all around the back part of the van, since there were no seats, as they tried to maneuver all around the streets and get Abigail back.

They drove through a construction sight and the van bounced up and down, causing Sierra to knock her head on some piece of equipment in the back. That was going to leave a bruise.

"Skidding, skidding, skidding!"

Sierra watched with horror as the back door of the truck flew open with Abigail hanging onto it!

"Oh, no," Paul said.

"Holy Lord…"

More bullets ricocheted off the hood of the van.

"Help!" Abigail screamed.

Paul climbed in the back and opened the door. "Get me next to her!" he yelled.

The van went onto the wrong side of the road and pulled up next to the truck. Sierra screamed as a truck came barreling in their direction and the van swerved to avoid it. Abigail was still safely hanging onto the door. As it swung back, she tried to grab Paul's hand, but it slid out of her grasp. The door swung out again, and Paul managed to grab onto her waist.

"Come on, jump!" he screamed.

Even more bullets hit the van as Abigail jumped off the door and landed in the back of the van with Sierra.

"Abby!" Sierra screamed as she tightly hugged her friend. "Are you okay?"

"Those—Those lunatics—"

"You're not hurt, are you?" Paul asked.

"You're all lunatics!"

"Are you hungry?"

"What?"

"Are you all right?"

"Still a little on edge from being shot at, but I'll be okay. Thanks for asking!" his friend said from the driver's seat

"Yeah, well, I'm not all right!" Abigail screamed. "Those men have the Declaration of Independence!"

"She lost it?!" his friend yelled.

"They don't have it," Paul said calmly as he opened up a tube and revealed the real Declaration. "See? Okay? Now could you please stop shouting?"

Abigail made a grab for it. "Give me that!"

"You're still shouting. It's starting to annoy. You'd do well, Dr. Chase, to be a bit more civilized in this instance," he said as he hopped back up into the passenger's seat.

"If this is the real one, what did they get?"

"A souvenir," he answered. "I thought it'd be a good idea to have a duplicate. It turned out I was right. I actually had to pay for the souvenir and the real one, so you owe me 35 dollars plus tax."

"Genius," his friend remarked.

"Who were those men?"

"Just the guys we warned you were gonna steal the Declaration," Paul answered.

"And you didn't believe us!"

"So you guys weren't crazy," Sierra said. "Someone really was coming after that thing. And it wasn't you to begin with."

"We did the only thing we could do to keep it safe."

Abigail made another grab for the document. "Give me that!"

"Alright, that's it!" Sierra said, raising her voice. "Abby, you have got to calm down. Yes, they stole the most important document in history, and yes, you almost got hurt because of that, but their intentions were in the right place, and they did just save you from those crazy people with guns who were shooting at us! For once, will you please just stop blaming everyone around you and just calm down? You're freaking out and once again, blowing everything out of proportion!"

There was silence in the van. Everyone was rather surprised about Sierra's outburst.

"Whoa," Paul's friend breathed. "Where did that come from?"

"It's been a long night. And I have a feeling it's about to get even longer."


	3. Examing the Document

Abigail kept insisting that there was nothing on the back of the Declaration. Sierra was getting a little tired of her sounding like a broken record.

"I leveled with you 100 percent! Everything I told you was the truth!"

"I want that document, Mr. Brown," Abigail said firmly.

"Okay, my name's not Brown, it's Gates. I leveled with you 98 percent."

"Wait a minute, did you just say Gates?"

"Why, what's so important about the name Gates?" Sierra asked.

"They're some crazy family with a conspiracy theory about the founding fathers!"

"It's not a conspiracy theory!"

"Per se," his friend added.

"Okay," Sierra said as she slid over closer to the driver's seat. "So can I assume that you're name isn't actually Bill?"

"Heh, no actually, it's Riley," he admitted.

"Riley," she stated dryly. "Fake names. This relationship is off to a great start."

"You know what?" Abigail said. "I take it back. You're not liars. You're insane." She turned to Sierra. "And you. Are you working with them on all of this?"

"Excuse me?" Sierra said incredulous. "Of course I'm not working with them! I can't believe you'd even think that! The only reason I'm even here is because you couldn't leave well-enough alone and got taken by thugs who threatened to kill us. You've been my best friend since we were kids! I thought you would have a little more faith in me!"

Sierra noticed a guilty look cross her face, but she was too angry to care or even really hear the rest of the conversation that went on between them. Before she knew it, they had pulled off the road.

Sierra got out of the van, not willing to be near Abigail at the moment.

"You have the original Silence Dogood letters? Did you steal those, too?" Abigail asked.

"We have scans of the originals. Quiet, please."

"How'd you get scans?"

"I know the person who has the originals. Now shush."

"Why do you need them?"

"Abby, just shut up," Sierra said as she placed her fingers on her temple.

"I'll tell you what, look. I will let you hold onto this if you'll promise to shut up, please. Thank you."

"Ben, you know what you have to do," Riley said.

"I know what to do. I'm just trying to think of anything else we could do."

"Well, not to be a…noodge, but you do realize how many people we have after us. We probably have our own satellite by now." When Ben didn't respond, he added, "It took you all of two seconds to decide to steal the Declaration of Independence."

"Yeah, but I didn't think I was gonna personally have to tell my dad about it."

At that moment, Abigail decided to try to run for it.

"Hey, not cool! Not cool!"

Ben ran after her and grabbed her.

"Let me go!" she screamed.

After grabbing the Declaration from her, he released her. "Okay, you're let go. Go. Shoo!"

"I'm not going. Not without the Declaration," she demanded.

"You're not going with the Declaration," he countered.

"Yes, I am. I'm not letting it out of my sight, so I'm going."

"Wait. You're not going with us with the Declaration."

"Yes, I am."

"No, you're not."

"Look, if you wanted to leave me behind, you shouldn't have told me where you were going."

Ben sighed.

"And she's not going anywhere without me. Looks like you're stuck with us," Sierra told him. "_Paul_," she added sarcastically.

They drove not too far away before they arrived in a quaint little neighborhood.

"Looks okay," Riley remarked.

"Park a couple blocks away," Ben told him.

"How long do you think we got?"

"Give them a couple hours at least. I hope."

"What do we do about them? I've got some duct tape in the back."

"What?" Sierra cried.

"No, that won't be necessary. They won't be any trouble. Promise you won't be any trouble?"

"I promise," Abigail said.

"Yeah, whatever," Sierra added.

"See? They're curious."

Sierra still hadn't said a word to Abigail since her little accusation.

"Sierra," Abigail said as they walked up the walkway. "Look, I'm sorry I thought you were with them. This is my fault anyway. I should've trusted you."

Sierra smiled. As much as she wanted to, she couldn't stay mad at her. "Whatever."

Ben rang the doorbell, and an older man answered.

"Dad."

"Where's the party?"

"Well…I'm in a little trouble."

"'Little' putting it lightly," Sierra said under her breath.

"Is she pregnant?" he asked gesturing to Abigail. Sierra tried to hide her smirk as Abigail's eyes widened.

"Well, if she is, are you gonna leave the woman carrying your grandchild standing out in the cold?"

"I look pregnant?" Abigail whispered.

He motioned for them to come in, so the four of them walked through the door.

"Well, have a seat. Make yourselves comfortable. There's some pizza. It's still warm, I think."

"Oh!" Sierra gasped. She was starving. There had been nothing good to eat at that stupid Gala and she was craving some pizza. She was delighted to see that it was loaded with her favorite stuff.

"Dad, I need the Silence Dogood letters." There was an awkward silence. "Yeah, it's about the treasure."

"And he dragged you three into this nonsense?"

"Literally," Abigail remarked.

"I volunteered," Riley said happily.

"Well, unvolunteer, before you waste your life," Ben's father said sharply.

"Knock it off, Dad," Ben said.

"Sure, sure, I know, I'm the family kook!" his father replied. This conversation was getting awkward fast, so Sierra decided to really focus on her slice of pizza. Riley soon joined her and grabbed a slice for himself. "I have a job, a house, health insurance. At least I had your mother, for however brief a time. At least I had you. What do you have? Him?"

Riley looked up mid-bite as all attention went to him. Sierra quietly giggled.

"Look, if you just give us the letters, we're gone," Ben told him.

"You disappoint me, Ben."

"Well, maybe that's the real Gates-family legacy. Sons who disappoint their fathers."

_Ouch,_ Sierra thought. This was certainly a strained relationship. She finished off her slice and reached for another one.

"Get out. Take your troubles with you."

"I found the Charlotte."

Now he had his father's attention. "The Charlotte? You mean she was a ship?"

"Yeah, she was beautiful. It was amazing, Dad."

"And the treasure?"

"No, no. But we found another clue that led us here."

His father turned his head angrily. "Yeah, and that'll lead you to another clue. And that's all you'll ever find, is another clue. Don't you get it, Ben? I finally figured it out. The legend says that the treasure was buried to keep it from the British. But what really happened was the legend was invented to keep the British occupied searching for buried treasure. The treasure is a myth."

Ben stared his father down. "I refuse to believe that."

"Well, you can believe what you want. You're a grown person. What am I doing? Do what you want, Ben. Do what you want."

As he left the room, Sierra reached for her third slice. Riley gave her a look. "What?" she said. "I'm hungry. That stupid party had a bunch of fancy food that I hated."

"He's probably right," Abigail said to Ben. "You don't even know if there is another clue."

"Well, I can think of a way where we could find out," Ben responded. "And we can find out right now."

They cleared off the dining room table and got Q-tips and lemons. Ben took out the document and laid it flat.

"Looks like animal skin," his father said. "How old is it?"

"At least 200 years," Ben answered.

"Really? You sure?"

"Pretty darn."

Sierra smiled. Oh, if only his father knew…

"Now if this thing's in invisible ink, how do we look at it?" Riley asked.

"Throw it in the oven!" his father suggested.

"No!" they all said at the same time.

"Ferrous sulphate inks can only be brought out with heat."

"Yes, but this…"Abigail started.

"It's very old," Ben finished. "This is very old, and we can't risk compromising the map."

"You need a reagent," he said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Dad, it's really late. Why don't you get some rest?"

"I'm fine."

Ben sighed. Sierra left for a second to follow his father into the kitchen

"Hey," she said. "Sorry, just, could I have another piece of pizza?"

"Isn't that your fourth?" he asked as he opened the box.

"It's been a really long day. I eat a lot when I have long days." She took a slice of pizza and began to eat it happily.

"How did you get involved in all of this?"

"Um…" Sierra tried to plan out her response carefully. She wasn't about to tell him that what they were looking at was the Declaration of Independence or that they had all almost gotten killed. "Well, I met Ben and Riley when they uh…came to speak with my friend, Abby. And um…well, he told us about the treasure. And Abby and I got interested and wanted more information." There. That wasn't a lie, was it?

She went back out before he asked any more questions. Abigail looked at Ben with that I-told-you-so look.

"I told you," his father said to them. "You need heat."

Abigail and Ben made eye contact. They leaned down and breathed lightly on the corner of the document where Abigail must've put some of the lemon juice. They watched as a symbol appeared for a few brief seconds.

"See?"

"We need more juice," Ben said.

"We need more heat," Abigail added.

They got more lemons while Abigail found a hairdryer upstairs and they proceeded to uncover the rest of what was hidden on the back of the document. What they found were numbers that looked like they were part of a key. As Abigail revealed them, Ben copied them all down on a piece of paper.

"That's not a map," Riley said. "Is it?"

"If it is, it's not like any map I've ever seen," Sierra told him.

"More clues. What a surprise," Ben's father said sarcastically. Even Sierra was really starting to get really tired of his little comments. He seemed like the kind of guy who only believed what he saw, and Ben had certainly not inherited that trait.

"Are those latitudes and longitudes?" Riley asked.

"That's why we need the Silence Dogood letters," Ben answered.

"That's the key?" Abigail asked.

"Yeah, 'The key in Silence undetected'."

"What is that from?" Sierra asked him.

"It's part of what was on the engraving on the pipe we found. And we just figured out what it meant." He turned to his father. "Dad, can we have the letters now?"

"Will somebody please explain to me what these magic numbers are?" Riley asked, getting a little frustrated that he was still in the dark.

"It's an Ottendorf cipher," Abigail told him.

"That's right," his father answered.

"Oh, okay," Riley said. Then after a pause, he asked, "What's an Ottendorf cipher?"

"They're just codes," he said like it they hadn't just discovered invisible numbers that may lead them to a treasure Sierra still wasn't sure existed or not.

"Each of these three numbers corresponds to a word in a key," Ben explained.

"Usually a random book or a newspaper article," Abigail added.

"In this case, the Silence Dogood letters. So it's like the page number of the key text, the line on the page, and the letter in that line. So, Dad, where are the letters?"

"You know, it's just by sheer happenstance that his grandfather even found them," he said.

"Dad," Ben said, realizing that his father was avoiding the question and had been all night. That wasn't good.

"They were in an antique desk from the press room of The New England Courant. That's a newspaper."

"Dad, where are the letters?" Ben asked firmly.

"I don't have them, son."

"What?"

"I don't have them."

The mood in the room plummeted drastically.

"You mean we came here for nothing?" Sierra asked quietly. "Well," she mumbled. "At least I got something decent to eat."

Ben removed his glove and collapsed on the chair. "Where are they?"

"I donated them to the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia."

"Time to go!"

"Wait!" Sierra cried. "You can't be serious. We're really just going to pack up and drive all the way to Philadelphia?"

"I packed up and headed out all the way to the Arctic Circle."

"What?"

"I'll explain later. Right now we have to go." He leaned closer to her out of earshot of his father. "Before certain people get here."

"I still can't believe it," Abigail said quietly. "All this time no one knew what was on the back."

"The back of what?" his father said as he went to go lift it up.

"No!" they all shouted together and tried to stop him from doing so.

A look of horror crossed his face as he realized just what exactly they had been examining all night. "Oh, my…Oh, my…Oh, my—What have you done? This is…this is the…This is the Declaration of Independence!"

"Yes. And it's very delicate," Abigail said, taking it gently from his hands.

"You stole it?" he asked accusingly to his son. Riley pointed his finger at Ben, to which Sierra forced him to put his hand down.

"Dad, I can explain, but I don't have time," Ben answered. "It was necessary. And you saw the cipher!"

"And that will lead to another clue, and that will lead to another clue! There is no treasure. I wasted 20 years of my life. And now you've destroyed yours. And you pulled me into all this."

"Well, we can't have that." Everyone looked at him in anticipation. "Dad, why don't you sit down, and I'll explain everything."

He questioningly took a seat in the living room.

"Dad, I am really sorry about this, but…" Ben proceeded to wrap duct tape around his father pinning him to the chair.

"Oh my—Ben, what are you doing?" Sierra cried.

"You can't do this!" Riley yelled.

"I have to, okay?" Ben responded. "Here, at least make yourself comfortable." After tying his hands to the chair, he handed him the remote for the TV and a glass of juice to drink. "We gotta go. Now."

He practically sprinted out of the house and to the garage and they had no choice but to follow him.

"Ben, you just tied your father to a chair," Sierra said.

"Really? I had no idea." He hopped into the driver's seat of what Sierra assumed was his father's car while Abigail took the passenger's seat and Riley and Sierra hopped into the back.

"Your dad's got a sweet ride," Riley said as he made himself comfortable. That involved putting his feet on Sierra's legs.

"I don't think so," she said, shoving them off.

"I think we should change clothes," Ben said. "We look kind of conspicuous, don't you think?"

"I'd love to go shopping, too, but we have no money," Riley said.

"Thank you, Debbie Downer!" Sierra scolded.

"Here, I took this from his house. He usually tucks a few hundred dollars somewhere between those pages."

"Common Sense. How appropriate," Abigail remarked.

"When are we gonna get there? I'm hungry. This car smells weird."

Sierra smacked him. "Complain much?"

"It's been a really long night."

"Tell me about it."

As Ben and Abigail chatted mindlessly in the front, Riley decided to make conversation in the back. "You know, I never got to tell you, but you look really beautiful tonight."

Sierra laughed lightly. "Um, thanks. I think the mad car chase really made my hair all the much better."

"Ian has a way with people."

"So that was that guy's name? He seems like a real jerk."

"You have no idea. When we were in the Arctic, and we found the pipe, he turned on us and left us to die when the whole ship was about to go up. If it wasn't for Ben finding the smuggler's hold, we wouldn't be here."

"Wow, he really is a jerk. And you all used to be friends?"

"I know. I hate to even think about it."

"Gosh, I am so tired," she said as she yawned.

"Stretch out. There's room."

"Well, no there's not, but thanks for the offer."

"Fine, I'll stretch out."

He once again put his feet up and Sierra found it pointless to shove them off again, knowing he would just put them back up. So she decided to take her heels off and put her feet up on him.

"Touché," he said.


	4. Deciphering the Cipher

**This might be my favorite chapter. It's filled with RileyxOC fluff :)**

* * *

><p>It was a long drive and Sierra dozed off not too long into the car ride with her feet propped up onto Riley.<p>

"Hey, guys!" Ben called to the backseat. "We're nearly there!"

Sierra's eyes fluttered open to find Riley's shoe pressed way too close to her face. The surprise of it caused her foot to accidently come in contact with the side of Riley's head.

"Ow! What?" he exclaimed.

"Sorry! Sorry!" Sierra said. She tried to untangle her legs from the weird position they were in and ended up tumbling to the floor of the car.

"Ow!" she yelled.

"Everything okay back there?" Ben asked, obviously trying not to laugh.

Sierra quickly pulled her dress down, afraid it had gone too high up. "I am so not a morning person," she grumbled.

Riley reached for her hand and helped her back up onto the seat. "Well, I'm awake now," he said.

"Yeah, sorry about that." Sierra looked out the window at the passing buildings, trying to divert all attention away from Riley. That had just been incredibly humiliating.

When they finally stopped, Sierra quickly climbed out of the car and stretched as she ran a hand through her brown curls.

"Okay, here's what's going to happen. Abigail and I are going to go find some clothes. Riley, you take Sierra and get some new clothes for the both of you and then head over to the Franklin Institute and figure out the next clue," Ben explained.

Oh, great. She was stuck with the one person she had just completely embarrassed herself in front of.

"You can count on me!" Riley said happily as he took some money Ben handed him.

They began to walk down the street to find a store near the Institute. Sierra was carrying her heels since her feet already hurt and she was not about to start walking such a long distance in them.

"Everyone's staring at me," Sierra said quietly to him.

"That's just because you're hot in that dress," he said without thinking.

"What did you just say?"

"Uh…nothing!"

"You think I'm hot?" she laughed, trying to hide her blush. "Well, thanks! You're not bad yourself!" Suddenly, a sharp pain coursed through her foot. "OW! Shoot!" she cried out.

"What? What is it?" Riley asked as he held her arm.

"Nothing. I just stepped on something really sharp, whatever it was." She rubbed her foot, and thankfully it didn't feel like anything had gotten lodged into her skin.

"Well, you are walking barefoot in Philadelphia. Here, get on my back."

"What?" she said as her cheeks reddened again.

"Get on my back. You won't be any good to us if you can't walk."

"Aren't we trying to not attract attention to ourselves?"

"Look, either you get on my back or I'll carry you bridal style. Which would you prefer?"

Sierra rolled her eyes as he squatted a little to allow her to jump on. Her dress gave them a little complication, but they finally got to a comfortable position. As comfortable as it could be anyway.

"This is so awkward," Sierra mumbled.

"Don't worry. We're almost there."

A few people smiled at them, assuming they were a couple. Sierra's face got increasingly hotter with each step and she could feel her heart beating really fast. It took them way too long to make it to the store. Riley set her down and her legs buckled.

"Whoa, you all right?"

"My legs are asleep," she said. "You cut off my circulation." She lightly punched him on the shoulder.

"Ow, enough hitting me!"

"Don't be such a baby!"

Sierra slipped her heels on since it was a no-shoes-no-service kind of place. They walked into the store and went to their respective sections.

She grabbed a few clothes and went to the changing room to go see what fit. After trying on a few different things, she settled on a three-quarter-sleeved, form-fitting teal shirt with a few buttons going down the middle stopping a little above her chest, a pair of skinny jeans, and some black converse. She went to the cashier to pay for everything after grabbing a couple of brown hair ties.

Riley came up behind her as she finished buying her clothes and she saw he was wearing new jeans, a green t-shirt, and a purple hoodie. He looked…really handsome.

She took the cardboard off the hair ties and put them on her wrist for later.

Sierra took the dress in her arms and threw it and the heels into the trash can. When she noticed Riley looking at her, she told him, "I always hated dressing up anyway."

They left the store and headed over to the Institute. "Hey," Sierra said as she grabbed his arm. "I'm starving. Can we grab a bite first? There's a pizza place right there." She pointed to the little place next to the Institute.

"You just had pizza last night," he said.

"Hey, you can never have enough pizza," she answered, shaking her finger at him.

"I'm not going to disagree with you on that."

They walked over to the small building and grabbed a couple slices to go. When they headed out again, Sierra found it difficult to walk and eat at the same time, but she managed, not willing to embarrass herself yet again in front of Riley.

They finished up their pizza and threw their trash into the trash can. Riley started to walk up the stairs, but Sierra grabbed his arm again. "Wait."

"What? You want another slice?"

"Very funny. No, you can't go in there. What if someone recognizes you? I have a feeling the FBI has spread the word about you and Ben. And Ian has to be hot on our trail. What if he's in there? He knows me now, and if he sees me, he'll know that you are nearby."

"So what do you suggest we do?"

Sierra drummed her fingers on her thigh. Then she noticed some little boy sitting across the street. "He looks innocent enough," she said as she pointed to him.

"Are you sure about this?"

"Not at all. Come on." She grabbed his wrist and dragged him across the street. "Hey, do you think you could do something for us?" she asked the boy sweetly.

"My mom said I'm not supposed to talk to strangers," he said.

"And your mom is a wise woman. Look, I'm…Deanna and this is my…brother…uh, Bill. We're trying to surprise our mom with a little present. There's this code she's been trying to work out for years, but she just gave up. We figured it out and we're going to give it to her as a surprise."

The boy gave them a skeptical look, obviously not believing her.

"Okay, fine," Sierra relented. "We're not doing this for Mom, but we really do need this code figured out. Do you think you can help us?"

"What's in it for me?"

"Okay, you're a smart one." She pulled ten dollars out of her pocket. "How about it?" she said showing him the bill.

"Works for me. What's the code?"

Riley pulled out the numbers Ben had written down. "This is an Ottendorf cipher. It corresponds to the Silence Dogood letters. The first number is the page, the second is the line, and the third is the letter in the line," he explained. "How about we divide it up? Just go get us the first five."

"Alright!" he bounded off with his new money and went up to the building.

"I love kids," Sierra said.

As they repeatedly waited for the boy and then sent him back in, Riley wrote down each letter he was given on a newspaper where he was trying to do the crossword. Sierra managed to somehow braid her hair without a mirror into two pigtails and secured them with the hair ties she had bought at the store.

She noticed that Riley had put his glasses on, which made him look even cuter.

He looked over at her and noticed her braids for the first time. "Hey, that looks kinda cute."

"Thanks. It keeps it out of my face, and the curls were getting a bit wild." She looked up and noticed people were staring at them. "Hey, Riley? Why is everyone looking at us?"

"They probably think we're a couple. And we're not exactly acting like one."

"Well, let's fix that. The less attention we have on us, the better." She slid closer to him and took her hands in his. "Okay," she said, smiling widely. "I'm pretending to actually be dating you right now, and I honestly have no idea what to do."

"Well, sweetie," Riley smiled back. "I really don't either."

"Why don't you laugh, like I make you happy?"

Riley laughed lightly for no reason. "Did that work?"

"Perfect."

They looked into each other's eyes and suddenly, nothing else mattered. Ian didn't matter, the treasure didn't matter, the letters didn't matter, everything just didn't exist.

The boy came back with the next five letters. "S, S, A, N, D," he told them. Sierra forced herself to look away from his beautiful gaze.

"You're sure this is right?" Riley asked as he wrote down the letters.

"Riley, don't doubt the kid," Sierra said.

"No, N," the boy told Riley.

"That is an N," Riley answered.

"That is so not an N," Sierra said as she looked over his shoulder.

"Alright, enough critiquing my writing style. Here. Last one. Okay?" He took a dollar bill out of his pocket. "One more dollar."

"Thank you," the boy said, pocketing his new cash.

"Go get the last four letters. Go get 'em, chief. Come on!"

The boy ran back into the building to fulfill the last part of his mission.

"Okay," Riley mumbled. "Let's see what we've got so far. 'The vision to see the treasured past comes as the timely shadow crosses in front of the house of pass and…'"

He looked to Sierra for the answers. "Don't look at me. I'm that kid who fell asleep in history class."

"Pass and…what?"

Sierra tried to think of what the last word could be when she caught sight of a bus. "Riley," she said tapping him repeatedly. "Look at the bus."

"Uh, yeah, it's really nice."

She groaned. "Look at what's on the bus!" There sat a picture of the Liberty Bell with 'Pass and Stow' on it. "Stow!" she exclaimed. "That's the last word! Come on!" She grabbed his wrist once again. "We haven't got any time to lose! Especially since I have a feeling Ian is close by."

* * *

><p>They ran as quick as they could to the store where Abigail and Ben were buying their clothes. When they walked in, they found the pair purchasing their new items, looking much more normal.<p>

"Did you get it?" Ben asked the two of them.

"Oh, we got it!" He looked at the newspaper and read it to them. "'The vision to see the treasured past comes as the timely shadow crosses in front of the house of Pass and Stow.' Now, 'Pass and Stow', of course, referring to—"

"The Liberty Bell," Ben and Abigail said at the same time, cutting him off.

"Why do you have to do that?" Riley whined.

"Don't worry, Riley," Sierra said. "Abby's been doing that to me since high school."

"Well, John Pass and John Stow cast the bell," Abigail explained after giving a sharp look to her friend.

"Okay," Riley said. "Well, then, what does the rest of this mean?

"Wait," Ben said, saying the words over in his head and analyzing them. "'The vision to see the treasured past' must refer to a way to read the map."

"Well, I thought the cipher was the map."

"No, the cipher was a way to find the way to read the map."

"Come again?" Sierra said.

"We still haven't seen the map yet, but this clue is going to tell us how to fix that."

"And the way to read the map," Abigail continued, finishing his thought, "can be found where the 'timely shadow' crosses in front of the Liberty Bell."

"Crosses in front of the 'house' of the Liberty Bell. Independence Hall!" Ben exclaimed, proudly figuring out the clue.

"Right! So 'timely shadow'—it's a specific time!"

Sierra could not miss the proud look he gave her, like a parent whose child just won first prize in a competition.

"What time?" Riley asked.

"What time?" Ben muttered. "What time?" He put his hand to his mouth in thought when he froze. "Wait a minute, wait," he said, obviously getting an idea. "You're gonna love this." He went up to the cashier, growing more excited by the second. "Excuse me, can I see one of those hundred dollar bills I paid you with?"

"No," she answered with a concerned look on her face, like he was the stupidest man in the world for even asking.

"Oh," he said awkwardly. "Well, here, I have this diver's watch." He quickly took off his watch and handed it to her. "It's called a Submariner. I dive with it. It's actually quite valuable. You can use it as collateral."

"Whatever," she replied shortly. It looked she was not having a very good day. Either that or she was just another one of those stuck-up teenagers who still had some growing up to do.

"Thank you." He turned back to the group. "On the back of a hundred-dollar bill is an etching of Independence Hall based on a painting done in—"

"Hello!" the cashier whined, holding out a bill for him.

"Thank you—in the 1780s, who—the artist was actually a friend of Benjamin Franklin's," he exclaimed to the cashier. "It's wonderful!"

"Fascinating," she replied sarcastically. Sierra was willing to bet it was the latter.

"Hold this," Ben said as he handed Abigail the Declaration.

"Okay," she answered, throwing it over her shoulder. When he gave her a sharp look, she smiled, "I'm not going anywhere."

"Now, I think that if we look at this clock tower," Ben said as he took a water bottle and held it up to the bill, "we may find the specific time."

"What do you see?" Abigail asked.

"2:22."

"What time is it now?"

"Almost three," the cashier said, looking at Ben's watch.

Everyone groaned, realizing this was going to seriously set them back. "We missed it," Abigail said.

"No, we didn't," Riley said after a pause. "We didn't miss it because…" He looked at the expectant look on his friend's faces. "You don't know this? I—I know something about history that you don't know!" he said triumphantly.

"I'd be very excited to learn about it, Riley," Ben said dryly.

"Well, hold on one second, let me just…let me just take in this moment." He took a deep breath. "This is…this is cool. Is this how you feel all the time? Because, you know, except for now, of course."

"Riley!" Sierra said, lightly punching him the arm. "Stop torturing them!"

"All right! What I know is that daylight savings wasn't established until World War I. If it's 3 PM now, okay, that means in 1776 it would be 2 PM."

"Let's go!" Abigail said.

"Riley, you're a genius!" Ben told him.

"Riley, I could kiss you!" Sierra exclaimed. Once she realized what she just said, they both turned as red as an apple. Sierra quickly left to follow the others.

"Do you actually know who the first person to suggest daylight savings was?" Riley called after them.

"Benjamin Franklin," Ben and Abigail said together. Riley stamped his foot in frustration, his moment stolen from him.

"If it makes you feel any better, I didn't know that," Sierra told him. "I told you before, I am not a history person. I'm a nurse. History wasn't exactly big on my list of things to study."

"You're a nurse?" he asked.

"Yeah, up in Portland."

"Wow, you're a long way from home."

"I'm on break for now. I'm due back next week."

"Oh."

Was that…disappointment she heard in his voice? Did he want her to stay? No, that couldn't be. They had just met the day before. And yet…she found herself not wanting to leave either.


	5. The Plan Goes Wrong

The four of them discreetly managed to join a tour group in Independence Hall. Ben and Abigail went off to the side at one point, and Sierra had to grab Riley's arm to pull him in their direction. As they went up the stairs, they came up to a door that would lead to the tower.

"There's no way that's going to be open," Sierra said quietly.

Ben opened the door with ease and gave her a pointed look.

"Unbelievable," she muttered.

They went up the stairs and found themselves in the tower of Independence Hall.

"What bell is this?" Riley asked.

"It's the Centennial Bell," Ben answered. "It replaced the Liberty Bell in 1876."

They looked at out and saw the shadow that was casted by the tower, indicating where something must've been hidden. "There it is," Abigail remarked.

"All right," Ben said. "I'm gonna go down there, and you meet me in the Signing Room. Okay?"

"Okay," Abigail replied.

They went back down the stairs to go to their respective areas.

"3:22," Riley said as he looked at his watch. "My idea."

Sierra giggled. "Come on," she said as she tugged on his arm.

The three of them went down to the Signing Room, occasionally having to hide from various tour groups, and waited for Ben.

"I bet this wasn't what you were expecting when you planned to visit me," Abigail said to Sierra.

"Not in the slightest. But I have to admit, it's kinda fun, and I've certainly gained a new appreciation for our Founding Fathers."

She pulled her closer to her. "What's going on with you and Riley?"

"What's going on with you and Ben?" she retorted.

Abigail smirked. "Nice comeback."

"Thanks!"

At that moment, Ben walked into the room. "What'd you score?" Riley asked.

"I found this," he said holding out a pair of weird glasses. "Some kind of ocular device. 'The vision to see the treasured past.' Let me take this."

He took the Declaration from Abigail and began to take it out of the canister.

"Oh, they're like early American X-ray specs," Riley said.

"Benjamin Franklin invented something like these," Abigail said.

"I think he invented these!" Ben told her.

"So, what do we do with them?" Riley asked.

"We look through it!" He took the plastic off the Declaration and he, Abigail, and Riley began to unroll it. Ben took a deep breath.

"What?"

"It's just that the last time this was here it was being signed."

Sierra looked at him. She really wished she could understand why he loved history so much when the mere thought of it made her want to take a nap.

"Ben, there's another tour coming," Riley sighed.

"Turn it over."

Sierra handed him the glasses and he carefully put them on and looked at the document. His eyes clearly widened and he let out a soft gasp.

"What do you see?" Abigail asked.

"What is it?" Riley asked, getting excited. "Is it a treasure map?"

"It says, 'Heere at the wall', spelled with two E's. Take a look."

He went to hand the glasses to Riley, but Abigail managed to grab them first. "Wow," she whispered. She handed the glasses to Riley, who then handed them to Sierra. She had to admit that seeing that on the back was pretty darn cool.

"Why can't they just say, 'Go to this place, and here's the treasure, spend it wisely'?" Riley groaned.

Sierra smiled. "Because that would be no fun at all!"

"Oh, no," Ben muttered. They all looked out the window to find a couple of Ian's "henchmen" undoubtedly looking for the four of them.

"How did they find us?" Riley asked, the panic evident in his voice.

"Ian had nearly unlimited resources and he's smart."

"I don't think we can get out of here without being spotted," Abigail said.

"Well, we don't want them to have the Declaration, or the glasses, but we especially don't want them to have them both together."

"So what do we do?" Sierra asked.

"We separate the lock from the key. We're splitting up."

"Do you think that's a good idea? What if something happens to one of us?"

"I can handle them. We've all worked together and I know how they operate. You three need to stick together. Only separate if it's absolutely necessary."

Ben took the glasses and the red case while Abigail held onto the canister that held the actual Declaration. "Meet me at the car and call me if you have any problems."

"Like if we get caught and killed?" Riley said.

"Yeah…that would be a big problem. Just take care of her."

"I will," all three of them said together. They looked at each other and silently wondered just who Ben was directing that order to.

Ben left and they waited a bit before heading out themselves. Sierra could feel the adrenaline slowly begin to course through her body. Riley seemed to sense her uneasiness and took her hand in his. Once more, she felt her cheeks get hot, but tried to ignore that and focus on not dying at the hands of Ian and his followers.

They casually walked through the huge crowd of people when they heard shouting behind them.

"Guys!" Abigail said, alarmed. They turned to find a couple of Ian's men giving chase, evidently having seen them.

"Time to run!" Riley cried as he took off, clutching onto Sierra's hand even tighter. More than once, they accidently knocked into people, but there was no time to apologize.

"In here!" Abigail said as she ran into a store. Riley and Sierra followed, but they all got separated in the confusion.

Sierra was panicking something fierce, the adrenaline having reached its peak. When she looked around and found no one, she began to panic even more, but she tried to forget about that and find a place to hide. She looked around, trying to avoid the eyes of Ian's men. Before they could see her, she went to the clothing section of the store and hid in one of the universal dressing rooms. She lifted up her feet so it would seem empty.

"Where are you?" she heard outside the door. She covered her mouth so the man couldn't hear her ragged breaths. "I know you're here."

Suddenly, there was a huge bang on the door next to her that made her jump and then a loud shrill scream.

"Sorry! I'm sorry!" she heard the man exclaim.

"You pervert!" a woman screamed at him.

"Hey, man what do you think you're doing?" another man's voice said.

"I thought that…"

"Just get out of here. You're sick, man!"

Despite the situation, Sierra couldn't help but quietly giggle. Knowing that after that little episode, the man wouldn't be around, she slowly opened the door, trying to avoid the creaking.

Seeing no sign of either of the men that were chasing them, she carefully maneuvered around in search of Riley and Abigail. She was in a secluded place in the store when a hand flew over her mouth. She struggled against whoever was holding her, sure that she had been caught.

"Shh, shh, it's okay! It's me!"

He released her from his hold and she saw that it was Riley. She punched him on the shoulder. "I hate you! Don't ever scare me like that again!"

"Sorry, but I was afraid if I surprised you, you would scream and give us away."

"Whatever. Where's Abby?"

"She's not with you?"

Her eyes scanned the shop quickly when she saw a familiar head of blonde hair by the window. "She's over there. Come on." She darted over to her, keeping watch on her surroundings. "Abby!" she whispered. Her friend turned to her.

"Where were you two?"

"Hiding, of course! Let's go!"

They three of them made it out of the door before they were caught and the chase resumed. They began running towards City Hall, trying to lose them along the way. They managed to put quite some distance in between them.

Riley and Sierra ran into a tight throng of people and got caught right in the middle of them. As Abigail looked back, she ran into a cyclist and fell backwards onto the pavement, causing her to lose her grip on the Declaration. It rolled into the middle of the street where cars unknowingly were threatening the life of the most important document in history. Abigail ran to go get it, but a huge truck came barreling towards her. Riley broke free and grabbed her before she got hit. They tumbled back onto the sidewalk.

Sierra couldn't risk losing that document. She ran to go pick it up when a pair of ugly hands grasped it at the same time as she did. They wrestled briefly for it together, and when she looked up, she was staring into the very cold eyes of Ian Howe. Her momentary stunned pause allowed him to yank the document from her and grab her wrist firmly and hold her against him so that she was looking at Riley and Abigail.

"If you so much as utter a sound, I've got lots of people on my side who won't hesitate to shoot you," he growled in her ear. He looked at the two people on the ground across from him. "Tell Ben I'll be in touch. Meanwhile, I think you'll make some nice leverage. You're coming with me."

He yanked on her wrist as she looked at Riley with fearful eyes, silently begging him to do something. When Ian's men came after them, they had no choice but to run.

"Leave them," Ian commanded. "We've got everything we need."

He dragged her against her will back to a huge black van that looked anything but inviting. Two of Ian's men shoved her into the back seat.

"Put your wrists together," one of them growled at her. She did as she was told and he quickly wrapped duct tape around them, then slammed the door in her face.

"You too, huh?"

Her head whipped to the side to find she was not alone. "Mr. Gates?" The old man sat next to her with his wrists bound with duct tape as well.

"I think under the circumstances, you can call me Patrick."

"Sierra."

She looked forward as the van started to move. She could feel her eyes watering, but she forced herself to blink back her tears. She was not about to appear weak in front of these men and give them the satisfaction of seeing her scared.

* * *

><p><em>Ben's cell phone rang as he headed to the car. "What?" he answered.<em>

_"We lost it," Riley's voice said._

_"What?"_

_"We lost the Declaration. Ian took it."_

_Ben resisted the urge to scream and kick the wall. "Yeah, okay," he said with a surprisingly very controlled voice, considering the circumstances._

_"Ben, it gets worse. He's got Sierra."_

* * *

><p>The hours ticked by far too slowly. They stopped at one point for Ian to make a call on a payphone, no doubt to Ben. At this point, the tears welled up too much and unwillingly spilled down her cheeks. She quickly wiped them away before anyone noticed.<p>

"Hey," Patrick said softly to her. "It's gonna be all right."

She smiled at him and just hoped that he was right.

Ian hopped back into the van and turned to his hostages. "We're going to take a little trip together to New York. Perhaps you just might see your friends again."

They drove mostly in silence for the next few hours when the sun began to go down.

"Looks like we're going to be driving through the night," Ian said. "Might as well make yourselves comfortable back there."

Patrick leaned over to her. "Try to go to sleep. The longer you sleep, the quicker all of this will be over."

Sierra nodded and attempted to get as comfortable as she could in the back. When Patrick saw that she was trying to find a good position, he said quietly, "Put your legs up on my lap."

"Oh, no, I can't do that."

"When you become a parent, the first thing you learn is how to make sacrifices. Don't worry about me. Right now, you just need to try to get to sleep."

Sierra gave him a light smile and did as he said. Eventually, she was able to slowly drift off to sleep.

* * *

><p>Sierra awoke as the sunlight came through the window, and heard voices outside.<p>

"What's going on? What time is it?" she asked Patrick as they were the only ones in the car.

"It's about 9:30. You missed a pretty intense conversation between Ian and Abigail."

Sierra smiled. "That's Abby for you. What happened?"

"We're in Manhattan. It looks to me like Ian and his men managed to get Ben away from FBI custody. I think Abigail said something about him getting all the treasure if he helped them. They're planning on meeting him soon to discuss this whole treasure nonsense."

"Look, I know you think this whole treasure thing is stupid and it's not real, and a few days ago, I probably would've agreed with you. But from what I've seen, I think Ben's right. We've found and seen so much. And honestly, I think we might even be close to finding it."

"And now he's pulled you into his fantasy world. There is no treasure."

"You know, maybe you should try trusting him. If I was his father, I would be proud of him for getting as far as he has and being brilliant enough to decipher all the clues we've found. He's really an incredible man."

Patrick remained silent at her words, and she knew she had gotten through to him, if only just a little.

* * *

><p><em>Riley held his head in his hands as he sat with Abigail, who was currently talking to Ian, trying to figure out what they should all do next. He was immensely worried about Sierra and hadn't stopped blaming himself since she was taken. He should've done something. He should've gone after them. He should've saved her.<em>

_"Alright, bye," Abigail said as she hung up the phone. "It's settled. Ian's going to get Ben."_

_"Alright," Riley mumbled._

_Abigail looked at him. "Riley," she said gently. "I know you're worried about Sierra. Believe me, I am too. But Ian won't hurt her. You heard him. He wants her as leverage. Which means he going to use her to try to get to you, me, and Ben."_

_"I just wish that I had done something for her."_

_"You really care about her, don't you?"_

_After a pause, he answered, "Yes."_

_"Don't worry. She's tough. We'll get her back."_

* * *

><p><strong>Aw, he's worried about Sierra! Italics are things that happen outside of Sierra's point of view.<br>**


	6. Beneath the Church

After far, far too long, the van finally stopped.

"Keep quiet," Ian demanded to his captives. He got out and they watched as Ben conversed with him. She was pretty sure the first words out of his mouth were, "Let Sierra go," but she couldn't be quite sure. When Ben was about to walk away, Ian called him back and motioned to the van. One of his men opened the door, revealing his father. The shocked expression was clear on his son's face.

The two men went inside Trinity Church while Ian's men came over to the van. They opened Patrick's door and "escorted" him into the church behind the others.

The bald man went across the street and found Abigail and Riley and also began to escort them to the church. Sierra watched them until someone opened her door and yanked her out of the van.

"Riley?" she called as she noticed their paths about to cross.

"Sierra!" he yelled. They ran to each other and their bodies crashed together. With her hands still tied, they rested on his chest as he tightly wrapped his arms around her. Sierra could feel more tears spring to her eyes, but made no effort to hold them back.

He released her and noticed the duct tape around her hands. He quickly unwrapped it off her wrists and threw it on the ground. She then wrapped her arms tightly around his neck as he squeezed her torso.

"Are you alright?" he asked.

She just nodded, unable to form words at the moment.

"I'm so sorry. I should've never let Ian take you."

Sierra didn't respond. She just let him hold her for awhile while tears leaked from her eyes. She felt safe for the first time in a few days as they just stood there in the middle of the sidewalk in a tight embrace.

"Come on, let's get moving!" one of Ian's men barked at them.

The three of them were taken into the church and sat down in the pews. The look of relief on Ben's face when he saw Sierra was unmistakable. They all sat down in the pews while Ben and Ian attempted to decipher the next clue. Sierra could not ignore the fact the Riley had his arm draped around her shoulders, and she didn't feel uncomfortable with it there. If anything, it made her feel safe amidst a bunch of people with guns.

They all watched as Ben put the glasses back on and this time lifted a couple of the colored lenses. "It's…It's... it's really quite something," Ben remarked. "It's…It really is remarkable. Take a look."

He handed Ian the glasses and he repeated Ben's actions. "'Parkington Lane'," Ian stated. There must've been something else when they lifted the lenses.

"'_Beneath _Parkington Lane'," Ben corrected.

"But why would the map lead us here, then take us somewhere else? What's the purpose?"

"Just another clue," Patrick said sarcastically.

"Dad," Ben said firmly as Sierra gave him a sharp look. "No, you're right," he said to Ian. "Parkington Lane has to be here somewhere."

"A street inside the church?"

"Not inside. Beneath. Beneath the church."

The group all was led through a door in the church that led below where the clue must've rested. Ian's men took pleasure in pushing everyone through the door. Riley continued to grip Sierra's hand, and she made no effort to pull away.

They made it to the boiler room and everyone spread out to search for the so-called "Parkington Lane."

"Riley," Sierra said quietly. "How long do you think this will last?"

"What do you mean?"

"Ian's not going to want us around forever, especially once he gets the treasure. What's going to happen to all of us when he finds it and realizes that…he doesn't need us anymore?"

"We'll just have to deal with that when we get there."

They passed a section of the wall and Sierra did a double-take when she saw the words inscribed on it.

"Riley!" she said as she hit his arm.

"Hey!" he exclaimed to the others. "Par…Hey, we found it! Him!"

"Ben!" Ian called.

"It's a name," Patrick noted.

Ben rubbed his hand over the tombstone. "Parkington Lane," he confirmed. "He was a third-degree master mason of the Blue Lo—Hey! Stop!"

One of Ian's men came at the tombstone with a wrench and knocked it in, just barely missing Ben's head. Inside sat a large coffin, which must've held Mr. Lane's decomposed body.

Ben, Ian, and Ian's men carefully took the coffin out and were just about to set it down when a skeleton came crashing out of it onto the ground. Sierra jumped and clutched onto Riley's arm.

"Careful no one steps in him," one of Ian's men said. "All right, put it down."

"Okay," Riley said as they all looked down the passageway. "Who wants to go down the creepy tunnel inside the tomb first?"

"Not me," Sierra muttered.

"Right," Ian said. "McGregor, Viktor, you stay here. And if anyone should come out without me, well…use your imagination." Everyone in the group looked at each other, Ian's words setting in that he really meant business. "Shall we?"

Ben climbed into the small tunnel and everyone else followed suit. Cobwebs stuck to Sierra's hair and made her shiver. They got through to the room on the other side and Ian used a lighter to light up a torch that Ben held. They then all began to walk through the narrow passageway to find whatever was left to be found at the end. Ben helped everyone down the step. Sierra noticed Riley and Ben make eye-contact and she could see how much of a brother they had become to each other.

"Come here," she heard Ben say. She and Riley turned to find Ben and Abigail in some serious lip-lock! Sierra looked at Riley and smirked. She knew that was going to happen eventually. Abigail turned back to her friends. She looked sharply at Sierra and held up a finger. "Don't say it."

Sierra giggled and they continued their trek through the passage. They reached a huge room and Riley jumped over a hole in the floor, then helped Sierra over.

"It's a chandelier," Ben said as he looked at the huge wooden structure hanging up. He put the torch to it and rings of light went all the way around it, lighting up a good expanse of the seemingly bottomless room. He and Riley removed the rope and sent it to the middle of the room to get even more light.

"Look at the elevators," Ben said.

"A dumbwaiter system," Patrick corrected.

"How do a bunch of guys with hand tools build all this?" one of Ian's men asked.

"Same way they built the pyramids, and the Great Wall of China," Ben replied.

"Yeah," Riley said. "The aliens helped them."

Sierra quietly giggled. "That was a really bad joke."

"Then why did you laugh?"

"It was a pity laugh."

"Right, let's go," Ian announced. "What are we waiting for?"

"I'm not going out on that thing," Patrick countered. "200 years of termite damage and rot."

"Dad, do what he says," Ben ordered.

Patrick reluctantly began to descend down the wooden pathway. "Watch your step," he said when they got to a place where the floor board was missing.

"We're right under the Trinity graveyard," Ben said. "That's probably why no one ever found this."

Suddenly, the floor shook and the whole room rumbled fiercely. Instinctively, Sierra once more clutched onto Riley's arm.

"What is that?" he asked.

"Subway," Ian remarked.

Ben simply nodded and they began to walk forward again. All of a sudden, the bald man's floorboard that he was standing on gave out and he crashed through the floor.

"Shaw!" Ian screamed.

Sierra watched the man scream as he fell further and further. No one knew when he reached the bottom.

Abigail put her hand to her mouth as they all stood there in shock.

Then the whole floor began to give out. The platform that Ben, Riley, and Sierra stood on drooped first. Riley jumped onto another platform across from them, landing on his back. Sierra managed to get to the safe part where Abigail was before Ben just barely managed to hang on as his feet dangled precariously over the abyss below.

"Grab my hand!" Abigail shouted. She and Sierra managed to pull him back up and they got onto one of the elevators. Meanwhile, Ian, Patrick, and the remaining member of Ian's group all got onto another elevator above them.

"Here," Riley said as he looked at the group, particularly looking at Sierra. Sierra walked to the edge of the elevator. She felt it lurch and without thinking jumped from it before it went crashing down with Ben and Abigail still on it. She somehow was able to grasp the platform Riley was on, and he grabbed her arm before she lost her grip.

She looked up at him with fearful eyes. "Don't let go," she whispered. She forced herself to look down at Ben and Abigail. One end of the elevator had snapped free and Abigail was dangerously hanging off it as she clutched Ben's hand tightly. The Declaration rolled to the edge and threatened to fall where it would be forever lost.

Sierra looked back up at Riley, who was trying to pull her up, but he didn't have a good hold on the platform himself and she could feel her arm slipping from his grasp.

"Hang on!" Riley yelled.

Her arm felt like it was going to rip off. As much as she tried to help Riley pull her up, each attempt ended in her falling farther.

She could hear Ben and Abigail screaming below her, but she couldn't make herself look down again.

"Sierra, look at me!" Riley demanded. She looked into his eyes and could see that he was even more scared than she was. "Just hang on!"

They heard Ben and Abigail talking calmly, which meant they were safe.

"Guys!" Riley screamed. "Help!"

"Sierra!" Abigail cried at the sight of her friend.

Before anyone could move, Sierra's arm slipped out of Riley's hand. At that moment, time seemed to slow down and the world silenced. Sierra screamed as she felt the world rush past her. Suddenly, her arms were nearly wrenched out of their sockets as she felt two hands grab her arms.

"Pull!" she heard Ben say.

Her arms were lifted and she felt the wood under her. Sierra just laid there for a minute, trying to take some breaths. She faintly heard her friends' voices, but couldn't make out what they were saying due to her still being in shock from the fall.

"Sierra!" She was suddenly swept up into a tight hug. "I am so, so sorry! I didn't mean to drop you!"

Sierra clung onto him, afraid to let him go, like she would fall again if she did. She could feel his black hair intertwine in her fingers as they sat on the platform.

The elevator carrying the other three men came down to meet them.

"Get on," Ian demanded.


	7. Finding the Treasure

"Ian, it's not worth it," Ben said.

Sierra looked up at Ian from her position on the floor. If he seemed cold before, his heart had become much more hardened at the loss of his friend.

"Do you imagine any one of your lives is more valuable to me than Shaw's? We go on."

Ben and Abigail boarded the elevator before Riley gently helped Sierra stand up and board themselves. Riley held onto her tightly, and she didn't mind in the least bit. After what had just happened, it felt really good to have someone protecting her.

The elevator was lowered and they came to a platform. Ben tied the elevator to a post to keep it stationary and they all disembarked. When they walked into the small room, they were met with nothing more than a lantern hanging up amongst the bare walls.

"What is this?" Riley asked, dejection edging his voice.

"So where's the treasure?" Ian's henchman asked.

"Well?" Ian said impatiently.

Ben sighed.

"This is it?" Riley said, his voice rising. "We came all this way for a dead end?"

"Yes," Ben said as he put his fingers to his forehead.

"No," Sierra said quietly. "That's not possible. Not after how far we've gotten."

"There's gotta be something more," Riley muttered.

"Riley, there's nothing more," Ben told him.

"Another clue, or…"

"No, there are no more clues!" Everyone jumped at his sudden outburst. "That's it, okay? It's over! End of the road. The treasure's gone. Moved. Taken somewhere else!"

Riley remained silent. Ben had never yelled at him like that before. Or anyone. To be honest, it was kind of scary.

"You're not playing games with me, are you, Ben? Hm?" Ian said menacingly. "You know where it is."

"No," Ben answered.

There was a pause before Ian said quietly, "Okay, go!"

Ian and his henchman ran to the elevator and began to lift it up, leaving them behind.

"Hey, wait a minute!" Ben called.

"Hey!" Riley screamed. "Ian, wait!"

"Wait, wait, wait!" Patrick said.

Everyone began talking over each other, begging Ian not to leave them down here.

"You can't just leave us here," Abigail yelled.

"Yes, I can," Ian answered smugly. "Unless Ben tells me the next clue."

"There isn't another clue," Ben insisted.

"Ian, please," Sierra begged. "You don't have to do this. Just come back down and we'll figure out what to do next, okay? Just please—"

Ian whipped his gun out and pointed it to Sierra. "Don't speak again."

"Hey!" Riley yelled, stepping in front of Sierra. "Don't point that at her." Sierra had to admit that she was a bit surprised to hear Riley talking so firmly. He was usually so stuttery and quiet. Not the kind of person to stand up to people.

"Shut up, Riley!" Ian yelled. "The clue. Where's the treasure?" He aimed the gun at him. "Ben?"

Just as he cocked the gun, Patrick spoke up. "The lantern."

"Dad," Ben muttered.

"The status quo has changed, son."

"Don't."

There was a pause before Patrick looked at Ian and continued. "It's part of Freemason teachings. In King Solomon's temple there was a winding staircase. It signified the journey that had to be made to find the light of truth. The lantern is the clue."

"And what does it mean?" Ian asked.

"Boston. It's Boston," Ben admitted.

"The Old North Church in Boston," Patrick explained, "where Thomas Newton hung a lantern in the steeple to signal Paul Revere that the British were coming. One if by land, two if by sea. One lantern. Under the winding staircase of the steeple. That's where we have to look."

"Thank you," Ian smirked as he began to raise the elevator again.

"Hey, you have to take us with you!"

"Why? So you can escape in Boston? Besides, with you out of the picture there's less baggage to carry."

"What if we lied?"

Ian cocked his gun at them again. "Did you?"

"What if there's another clue?" Ben asked.

"Then I'll know right where to find you. See you, Ben."

Everyone once again began to protest his decision to leave them behind. Sierra's heart sank. She really hated that man.

"We're all gonna die," Riley said as Ian disappeared.

"It's gonna be okay, Riley," Ben told him. "I'm sorry I yelled at you."

"It's okay, kiddo!" Patrick said.

"Okay, boys, what's going on?" Abigail asked. "The British came by sea. It was two lanterns, not one."

"Abby's right," Sierra said. "Even I knew that."

"Ian needed another clue, so we gave it to him," Patrick said.

"It was a fake!" Riley exclaimed as he understood what they were getting at. "It was a fake clue!"

"The all-seeing eye," Ben said quietly as he ran his fingers over a faded drawing on the wall. "'Through the all-seeing eye'."

"That means by the time Ian figures it out and comes back here, we'll still be trapped, and he'll shoot us then. Either way, we're gonna die."

"Nobody's gonna die. "There's another way out."

"Where?"

"Through the treasure room." Ben pushed a button and the wall became loose, revealing a hidden room behind it. Ben and Patrick removed the wall. Sierra and Riley looked at each other and smiled. Perhaps all wasn't lost after all!

Every hope was dashed as soon as they walked into the room. It was empty. Ben stood in the middle of the room in disbelief.

"Looks like someone got here first," Riley said sadly.

"I'm sorry, Ben," Abigail told him.

"It's gone," Ben whispered.

"Listen, Ben," Patrick said to his son.

"It may have even been gone before Charles Carroll told the story to Thomas Gates."

"It doesn't matter."

"I know, 'cause you were right."

"No, I wasn't right. This room is real, Ben. And that means the treasure is real. We're in the company of some of the most brilliant minds in history because you found what they left behind for us to find and understood the meaning of it. You did it, Ben. For all of us. Your grandfather, and all of us. And I've never been so happy to be proven wrong."

"I just…really thought I was gonna find the treasure."

"Okay. Then we just keep looking for it."

"I'm in," Abigail said as she stepped forward.

"Me too," Sierra added.

"Okay," Ben said to his friends.

"Not to be Johnny Rain Cloud here, but that's not gonna happen. Because as far as I can see, we're still trapped down here."

"Johnny Rain Cloud, Debbie Downer, we really need to find you some new nicknames," Sierra told him.

"Ben, where is this other way out?"

"Well, that's it," he replied. "It doesn't make any sense because the first thing the builders would have done after getting down here was cut a secondary shaft back out for air and in case of cave-ins."

Ben went over to the wall and looked at four engravings on it. However, one was hollowed out, unlike the others. He took the pipe out of his jacket. "Could it really be that simple?" he muttered.

"What is it?" Sierra asked.

"'The secret lies with Charlotte'."

Ben broke the pipe in half and put the ship part of it in the engraving. It was a perfect fit. Sierra could feel the adrenaline start to rise up in her again. Ben took the other half of the pipe and fit it in a little circular space, then turned the whole engraving around and finally pushed it in. The wall in the back of the room opened as a burst of wind blew in their faces. Sierra's eyes widened and she looked back at Riley with a wide smile.

"Ben…" she smiled. Everyone looked at each other, taking in what exactly was happening. They all walked through the opening and were met with hundreds of pieces of pure gold.

Abigail knelt down to look at several scrolls covered in dust, sitting on shelf. "Scrolls from the library at Alexandria," she gasped. "Could this be possible?"

Sierra turned to find Riley looking lovingly at a really strange statue. "It's a big bluish-green man, with a strange-looking goatee. I'm guessing that's significant." He actually began to hug the statue. Sierra chuckled awkwardly and pulled him away. "Uh, Riley? You are embarrassing yourself."

He smiled sheepishly at her. They watched as Ben went up to a small pillar and put the torch to it. Instantly, light from the fire went down the path and lit up the room which was much larger than they had initially thought. The fire kept going down and down and revealed a huge room full of the treasure Ben had been searching for his whole life.

"Yes!" Patrick exclaimed as he clapped his hand on his son's back. Sierra put a hand over her mouth at the sight.

She looked at Riley with wide eyes. Before she knew it, he swept her up in the air and spun around with her. They laughed as he set her down once more. She looked out at the treasure then back into Riley's eyes. Without thinking about it, she pressed her lips to his. She felt him tense up at first, but then he melted into the kiss with her.

They broke apart and Sierra looked to the end of the room. "Riley," she whispered. "Look. There's stairs."

Hands intertwined, the group walked up the stairs and came out right next to Mr. Lane's corpse…and a very scared watchman.

Ben called the FBI to meet him at the church and settle this whole thing.

"Hey," Sierra said to Patrick while they waited. "I never got to tell you this, but thanks. For helping me in the van. You kept me sane and I really appreciate it."

"I should be thanking you. You opened my eyes to how brilliant my son really is. I was just too involved in my own thoughts that I didn't think about his."

Sierra smiled and went over to Riley, who was sitting in one of the pews. She took his hand in hers and rested her head on his shoulder. "I think I'm still in shock."

"Me. Too."

"I think the best part might be that we completely fooled Ian and he's probably halfway to Boston when the treasure was really just a hundred feet away from him to begin with."

"Well, maybe if he hadn't gone insane and threatened our lives, he would've gotten a part of it too."

It wasn't long before an Agent Sadusky walked into the church. Without a word, Ben handed him the Declaration of Independence.

"Just like that?" Sadusky asked.

"Just like that."

"You do know you just handed me your biggest bargaining chip?"

"The Declaration of Independence is not a bargaining chip. Not to me."

"Have a seat. So what's your offer?" he asked as they sat down on the church steps in the sanctuary.

"How about a bribe? Say…ten billion dollars?"

"I take it you found the treasure?"

"It's about five stories beneath your shoes."

"You know, the Templars and the Freemasons believed that the treasure was too great for any one man to have, not even a king. That's why they went to such lengths to keep it hidden."

"That's right," Ben said, impressed with his knowledge of history. "The Founding Fathers believed the same thing about government. I figure their solution will work for the treasure too."

"Give it to the people," Sadusky put together.

"Divide it amongst the Smithsonian, the Louvre, the Cairo museum. There's thousands of years of world history down there. And it belongs to the world, and everybody in it."

"You really don't understand the concept of a bargaining chip," Sadusky smiled.

"Okay, here's what I want. Dr. Chase gets off completely clean, not even a little Post-it on her service record."

"Okay."

"Sierra McClure comes off clean as well. Nothing at all to prohibit her from doing her job, especially when it's in such high demand. I want the credit for the find to go to the entire Gates family, with the assistance of Mr. Riley Poole."

The three of them smiled at each other, proud that Ben was defending them.

"And what about you?" Sadusky asked.

"I'd really love not to go to prison. I can't even begin to describe how much I would love not to go to prison."

"Someone's got to go to prison, Ben."

"Well, if you've got a helicopter, I think I can help with that."

"Hold it!" Sierra said as she stood up. "We're talking about Ian, aren't we?"

"Who else?" Ben said.

"I want to be there when you guys take him down. The freak kidnapped me and took pleasure in seeing me scared and vulnerable. I want to see the tables turned."

Ben smiled at her, completely agreeing with her.

* * *

><p>Ben and Sierra watched from the shadows as Ian prepared to break into the church. As soon as the gate broke, police cars swarmed the street. They were caught.<p>

Ian was thrown against the police car and his hands cuffed behind him.

"You're under arrest, Mr. Howe. We've got you on kidnapping, attempted murder, and trespassing on government property."

He looked up and Ben and Sierra stepped out of the shadows. Ben shrugged while Sierra smirked at him. Sadusky looked up at Sierra and motioned with his head to come over. She went down the steps and over to him.

"You know," he said quietly to her, "this technically isn't legal. So it'll be strictly off the record. Besides, there's few people above me. And I have certain tactics to getting them to see things my way." Sierra smiled, having a pretty good idea what he was getting at. "You only get one."

"One is all I need." She walked over to the person she probably hated most in the world. "Hey, Ian!" He looked over at her and she punched him hard in the face, sending him to the ground. "That's for what you put me and all of us through!"

Ben smirked. She certainly had a fire in her!

* * *

><p><strong>I don't care if punching someone like that is legal or not, but this is fanFICTION and Ian deserved it.<br>**


	8. Epilogue

A few months later, the group found themselves on Ben's new property. A huge estate. Not house. Estate.

Riley and Sierra walked hand in hand down the path next to Abigail and Ben, who were also holding hands, as Riley ended his phone conversation. "Yeah. You got it, chief. Thank you. Bye. They want us in Cairo next week for the opening of the exhibit. They're sending a private jet."

"That's fun!" Abigail said happily.

"Yeah, big whoop. We could have had a whole fleet of private jets. Ten percent, Ben. They offered you ten percent and you turned it down."

"Riley, we've been over this," Ben laughed. "It was too much. I couldn't accept it!"

"I still have this splinter that's been festering for three months from an old piece of wood!"

"Okay, I'll tell you what. Next time we find a treasure that redefines history for all mankind, you make the call on the finder's fee."

"This guy is funny. What do you care? You got a girl…and I got mine." He turned to Sierra and placed his warm lips on hers.

"You do, don't you?" Sierra said. "Does that mean you'll stop complaining?"

"Whatever. Enjoy your spoils…while I sit on one percent." He jumped into his bright red Ferrari sitting in Ben's long driveway.

"One stinkin' percent. Half of one percent, actually!"

"Alright, Debbie Downer, time to go," Sierra smiled. She turned to Abigail. "Abby, this has just all been incredible. I'm quite popular down at the nurses' station."

"Is it weird working as a nurse in D.C.? It's quite a far-cry from Portland."

"It was, but I'm getting used to it. In fact, I'm pretty sure I'm in for a promotion soon."

"That's wonderful news!"

The two women hugged. "I love you, Abby," Sierra said to her friend.

"I love you, too."

They released and Sierra opened the door to the Ferrari.

"For the record, Ben, I like the house," Riley said.

"'You know, I chose this estate because in 1812, Charles Carroll met—"

"Yeah, someone that did something in history and had fun. Great. Wonderful." Sierra giggled. "Could have had a bigger house."

"Alright, mister, leave the man alone. Come on. We have got some details to work out."

Riley drove away, driving on some of his grass rather than the road. "One percent," he grumbled.

"Riley, enough! They are being gracious enough to give us just what we need for the big day, okay? Can you at least be thankful for that?"

Riley looked at her. She was just as beautiful as the day he had first saw her, if not more so. "You got me."

"I win. And I always will. Be prepared for that," she giggled.

They drove off into town to do some shopping. Sierra looked at the ring that glistened on her finger. She couldn't be happier.

* * *

><p><strong>Alright! That's the end of this lovely little fanfiction! Now before you complain that they went too fast and they shouldn't be getting married after approximately three or four months, let me tell you that my dad proposed to my mom about two and a half months after he met her, and they just celebrated their 21st wedding anniversary, and they are still just as in love with each other as the day they met. Sometimes, if it's the right person, you just know. Like Riley and Sierra!<br>**

**See you at my next fanfiction :)**


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